


Refrain

by Blurasxbery (orphan_account)



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, F/M, Kinda, M/M, Sorry if anyone is OOC, Spying, Stalking, Written before Game Release
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-09-12
Packaged: 2018-09-17 17:20:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9334976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Blurasxbery
Summary: Ouma's been acting up lately, and Kiibo's noticed. He's never stood out much as a threat, if a little annoying, but not enough to be problematic. It's only when Ouma's actions begin to escalate further that he finds a cause for concern.*CANCELLED*





	1. Piqued

Kiibo had always been naturally observant. He would never consciously try to get into people's business, but sometimes he would find himself paying heed to the tiniest details, ones that others wouldn't even bat an eyelash at. This trait of his wasn't necessarily a bad thing, however, he wasn't sure what to make of his current predicament.

Ouma had always struck out as an odd fellow to him. Even at their first meeting, he did nothing but tease and make fun of Kiibo for being a robot. He would ask inappropriate questions, and generally fool around seemingly without a care in the world. He had previously thought that this was the epitome of his strangeness, but he would've never expected him to be such a far cry from normal.

He was only walking down the hallway towards the dining room - nothing unusual. It was morning and he was required to show up for breakfast. As he made his way, he noticed someone near the end, crouching in front of a tall metal pole. He recognized the all white attire as belonging to Ouma.

He was perched low on the ground, looking as if he were hiding from something. Kiibo nearly didn't question it, walking past him as if he hadn't seen anything. Turning the corner though, caused him to see what exactly Ouma was fixated on.

There were other people in the room, but the short boy's gaze seemed to be set on one space in particular. Saihara was at the far corner, having a lively conversation with Akamatsu. He saw the girl making a whole lot of hand movements, animatedly talking about whatever it was she was interested in. Kiibo was too far away to hear them properly.

Somewhere in the middle, Saihara interjected with his own statement. Akamatsu giggled at this, suddenly grabbing his palm and placing her hand on top. Saihara began sputtering, his cheeks going red in what he assumed to be embarrassment-

CRACK. A loud noise interrupted his observation. Kiibo turned around, looking for the source of the disturbance. Just as he was about to head back, he heard someone call his name.

"Kiibo-kun? What are you doing?" Shirogane called to him. He was startled, not noticing her there before.

"Oh, Shirogane-san. I think I might've forgotten something, so I'm going back to my room." He came up with a lie from the top of his head, hoping it would deter her of any suspicion.

"Hm, I see. We'll be waiting!" She waved to him, heading back to the cafeteria.

Kiibo let out a sigh. He turned back to the hallway, walking towards the pole. Ouma wasn't there anymore, a sizeable crack in the metal taking his place. There was an indentation in the hard material, and if one looked close enough they could see the grooves of someone's fingers.

He figured that this was where the loud noise came from. Did Ouma do this? And how much strength did he have to actually dent a giant metal pole? He paled with horror at this frightful realization.

Or at least, he would if he could. Deciding that there was nothing he could do at the moment, he went into the cafeteria to join the others.

\- - -

"Alright, is everyone here?" Akamatsu stood at the front of the table. Her stance was reminiscent of a teacher taking attendance.

She garnered sounds of affirmation. The people who were tired from waking up in the morning muttered quietly, while the more energetic people flailed their arms around to get her attention. Akamatsu still did a quick scan of the room to make sure.

"...Ouma-kun is missing?" She asked out loud, puzzled by the boy's absence. He was usually late, but he'd never outright skip a morning meeting.

"Maybe he got killed?" Angie blurted out.

Shirogane froze, "Please, don't say such things!"

"But it might be true. The killing game just started, so a murder is going to happen soon. That's what god is telling me!"

"Well, we don't know if he's actually in any danger or not." Akamatsu started, sweat dropping at Angie's usual antics. "So can anyone go check if Ouma-kun is in his room?"

Kiibo suddenly stood from his seat, "I will."

"Huh? But weren't you there earlier?" Shirogane piped up, taking her attention off of Angie.

"Y-Yes, but I didn't look much at his room. I promise I'll be quick!"

Akamatsu nodded her head, "Okay Kiibo-kun, please go look for Ouma-kun."

He left the dining room after she sent him off, wiping the sweat from his face. He had caught Shirogane's eyes narrow at him in doubt, and quickly turned around so he wouldn't have to be under her discerning gaze any longer. She might've been even more observant than he was.

He wondered why he had volunteered to check on Ouma. Perhaps he was still curious about the incident in the dining hall. He passed by the metal pole just then, shivering from the ominous aura that seemed to emit from it. He quickly made his way down the hall so he wouldn't keep his friends waiting, and to get away from the pole.

Luckily for him, the boy's room was right beside his, so it was easy to find. Climbing the stairs, he headed to the left of his door where Ouma's room was. He noticed that his door was slightly ajar, but rang the doorbell anyway.

"Ouma-kun! Are you in there?" He yelled, knowing that he would be able to hear him through the door's crack. "Ouma-kun?"

After a few minutes of waiting, he reached for the doorknob. He was about to go in, until the door began opening itself.

"I'm here, I'm here." Ouma stepped out, closing the door behind him. He looked completely normal. "Geez Kiiboard, no need to scream for me. Did you want to see me that badly?"

"N-No, I was sent here to look for you. Did you forget about our morning meeting?!" Kiibo pointedly asked.

"I didn't forget."

"Then why-"

"I was taking a shower," Ouma interrupted, putting his hands behind his head. He began walking down the stairs, "I just wanted to freshen up before eating breakfast!"

Kiibo followed him, frowning at the obvious lie. There's no way he could've taken a shower with the short time between being in the hallway and going back to his room. And if he really wanted to get ready, why didn't he do it before coming out?

Still, he decided not to ask him anything. He wanted to learn if what he saw was just an illusion or misunderstanding.

He let his thoughts and questions float around in his mind for the rest of the day.


	2. Fluke

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Frequent updates = short chapters  
> Or maybe I'm just not good at stretching things out. orz

Ouma tried to make himself as small as possible, hiding away in a secluded part of the library. His face was deep in a book, although he wasn't actually reading it. Saihara had been in the corner of his vision since he first entered. He thought his disguise was working well, he looked inconspicuous enough.

Even though Saihara had a book with him, he kept occasionally glancing towards the doors. Ouma inferred that he was waiting for someone, but who could he be waiting for? A _girl?_

His eyes caught Saihara getting up from his seat to move somewhere else. His gaze followed him across the room until they landed on Iruma, who was beckoning him over with some sort of strange contraption. He hadn't noticed her there until Saihara had started talking to her. They chatted for a while, the conversation appearing to be more one sided than anything as Iruma yelled at him. Saihara talked for a bit too, and Ouma cursed himself for not being close enough to hear them.

Near the end, the blonde had whipped out the weird contraption again and thrusted it at Saihara. He caught it with his hands, an adorable look of confusion and bewilderment on his face. He moved it under his cap to get a better view of it.

When Saihara moved the weird thing up, Ouma had gotten a closer look. It was long and purple, with spikes all over it and a wooden handle at the bottom. It was oddly tube shaped, but the top rounded out nicely, even with the sharp spikes. It reminded him of a...

It was a dildo. Why was she giving him a dildo?

His eyes widened when he saw the ecstatic, nearly crazed look of ecstasy on Iruma's face. She had her arms tightly wrapped around herself, as if she were trying to control her desires to pounce on someone. For some reason, Saihara was still there, attempting to give the thing he received back to her. She wouldn't budge, as she was still trying to keep her hands to herself.

Sensing danger, Saihara slowly stepped back as Iruma stood up. He began walking towards the exit, his calm walking suddenly turning into a sprint as Iruma closed in on him. They disappeared behind a bookshelf, and out of Ouma's sight.

It was only after they were gone that the boy noticed the book in his hands was no more. He had snapped the cover in half, taking all the pages with it and ripping several of them. One of the sharper edges nicked him in the finger. He practically bit his thumb off, drawing more blood out of the wound in pure frustration.

He probably would've ended up letting out a groan, if it weren't for the people still in the library. After licking his cut once more, he tried his best to salvage the book and placed it back on the shelf. Hopefully no one would notice.

He quickly exited the library, thinking he could find Saihara again, but he had already disappeared. Sighing in defeat, he went back to his room.

When he was there, he immediately made a beeline to his bed, not even checking if his door was properly locked. He buried his face in his elbows, before turning to his Amami statue. It was hanged up on the wall, dangling upside down and by the feet.

He absentmindedly began poking it on the forehead, unknowingly causing it to sway back and forth. The ropes holding it were secure enough to withstand his assault, but it seemed that it would eventually fall if he wasn't careful. Predicting it, Ouma took the statue down and placed it beside him on the bed instead. He cuddled it with all his might, not minding the hard stone poking into his stomach.

"What should I do to make Saihara-chan notice me...?" He mused while hugging the statue.

\- - -

Kiibo made his way to the library to look for something to read. After a nice and long charging session, it was routine for him to settle down with a good book. Even if they were trapped in an enclosed space, there was no way he could stop studying.

The topic he had in mind for the day was space, courtesy of Momota. He was told that they had books on the subject at the library. Kiibo was fascinated by the wide variety of options they had there. For a place that was essentially a prison, it was quite convenient.

When the library came into view, he began walking a bit quicker. He wanted to have as much time as possible for his learning. Opening the door, he found that there weren't many students left in the room, but there were lots of bookshelves filled with different subjects. It would've usually been difficult to find what he was looking for, but Momota had informed him of where the section was.

Kiibo went straight towards the back of the library until he saw the space tag at the top of the shelves. He wanted to research astronomy first, so he went into the first shelf.

He grabbed the first few titles that interested him, placing them under his arm so he could hold more. Near the end of the aisle, he caught a glimpse of the cover of a red book. It looked like the spine had been cracked in half.

He reached for it, pulling it out to take a look. Upon release, the book unexpectedly flew open, causing him to drop it in shock.

Kiibo set down his other books to look at it. Some of the pages that were torn out fluttered to the floor, while the clumps that were still barely attached fell heavily. The cover wasn't completely destroyed, but significant damage had been done to it. It didn't look like the book had been destroyed on purpose, but then again, someone had placed it back on the shelf...

He recalled seeing Ouma yesterday, hiding behind the pole. A hole about the size of his hand was found imprinted deep into the metal. Kiibo had a feeling that he was also responsible for ruining the book.

Picking up most of the book's components, he brought it with the rest of his collection. He had no idea why Ouma was going around destroying things, but he wouldn't let that deter him from reading.

There was a comfortable looking couch near the front, so he decided to rest there. He sat down, the cushion dipping beneath his weight. It was soft enough for him to bounce on. He opened a book on constellations, flipping it to the table of contents.

All the chapters were on different topics, telling the reader basic information on stars and the pattern of which they appeared. He reviewed the titles, wondering which page he should go to first. Just as he was about to start reading up the different types of constellations, the library door burst open.

"IS ANYONE IN HERE?!" Momota shouted, his voice bouncing off the walls. He looked up and down the room, before finally seeing Kiibo at the front.

"Momota-kun, what are you-" He didn't get to finish his sentence as he was cut off by Momota dragging him off the couch. The book he was reading was tossed aside to the floor.

The astronaut began running with Kiibo in tow, "No time to explain, just come with me!"

He tried his best to keep up with Momota, but failed to do so. Kiibo eventually let go of him, telling him that he'd catch up soon. He didn't think Momota had heard him, but that was fine. He followed him, jogging at a more leisurely pace.

Their trip eventually led them to a theatre. The door was only slightly open, but Momota fixed that by nearly breaking the door off its hinges. Kiibo stepped in with him, taking in the room's interior. He had only been here once since coming to the building, but he had never gotten a close examination of it. Maybe now, he could.

Because there on the ground lay Ouma, face down in a pool of his own blood.


	3. Reveal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another very short update  
> I hope I can make longer chapters later, but I have exams soon haha kill me

Kiibo stood at the doorway, shock evident on his face. It was like time had stopped for him. When Momota had taken him to the theatre, the last thing he would've expected was for someone to turn up _dead._

He knew about the killing game that Monokuma was forcing them to play, and had been cautious, at first. But after a week had passed, he started to believe that no one would ever actually take it seriously. He sorely regretted thinking like that.

Of all people, he would've never expected _Ouma_ to be the first to die. He always seemed so carefree and nonchalant about everything, that he seemed more likely to be a candidate for murder, as horrible as it sounded. He stepped towards Ouma's body, slowly and carefully as if it would jump up at any moment. It seemed like he was really dead. He saw the presumed murder weapon, a wooden hammer soaked with crimson near him. He clenched his fists because the thought of someone smashing in another's head made him sick. Not wanting to look at the scene for any longer, he pried his eyes away from the body...

And saw something else that made him scream.

"What's wrong, Kiibo?!" Momota rushed to the doorway, panting from running. Behind him were most of the other students, who began yelling at the sight of blood. Only some of them ended up hearing the Monokuma announcement to its end.

Kiibo shakily pointed to the area behind the theatre seats, "A-Angie-san..."

"What!" Momota ran to him, Akamatsu and Saihara following close behind. People began scattering at the mention of her name, shocked by the possibility of two deaths.

A terrible sight awaited them. Angie was sprawled out on the carpet. Her jacket had been taken off to cover part of her body, but the bloodstains did little to hide the fact of what had been done. However, what the uncovered part did show, was the exposed innards of her shoulder...

Her right arm was gone. Fresh blood flowed from the wound, making a trail that lead to under the chairs. Her flesh was flayed and ragged, like someone had messily ripped her limb off without paying much attention to how it looked. Some of the tears reached all the way through her arm, white bone shining through the skin's holes. It almost looked fake with how gruesome it was.

Tenko dropped to her knees upon laying eyes on Angie. She covered her face with her arm to hide her tears, but a choked sob still made it's way through. Akamatsu patted her shoulder in an attempt to comfort the girl. Everyone else was either turned away from both crime scenes or studying them with intensity after hearing the announcement. Most of them hadn't let the idea of a killing game sink in yet, even after witnessing actual death.

"Who... would do this...?" Shirogane covered her mouth, staring at the bodies in shock.

Gokuhara moved to the side, "G-Gonta can't believe this has happened!"

"Upupupu," They all turned to the back, the iconic laugh of Monokuma distracting them. "That's right, the first murder has just taken place. About time if you ask me!" He declared, raising his arms in anger.

Distressed yelps filled the room, and for a second nobody seemed to be able to think clearly. Saihara managed to speak through the chaos to voice his concerns, noticing something about his words. "Wait... first 'murder'? There are two bodies here."

Suddenly, a loud gasp cut through the air. They all turned to the floor, where Ouma had began to regain his senses. He coughed for a bit, blood sliding down his lips. "Blegh, it got in my mouth." Getting up, they were able to see that his clothes were drenched in red. Some splatters made their way to his face as well.

Everyone stared at him in silence as he walked straight towards Saihara, "Nishishi, were you surprised?"

The detective was at a loss for words.

He continued, "I just thought I'd pull a little prank on you guys. But seriously, it was hard to hold my breath. Any longer and I probably would've ended up dying for real!" Ouma shook as he chuckled, spraying some of the blood on Saihara. He shut his eyes tightly, but was stock still.

Akamatsu stuttered, "Th-Then, just now, that was..."

"A joke!"

"Are you fucking serious?!" Momota shouted, looking about ready to fight Ouma. "We thought you were really dead! You think you can just go around toying with us like this?!"

"That's right!" Shirogane agreed.

"As expected of a boy! I bet you killed Angie-san too!" Tenko claimed, appearing to have recovered from her fit.

"...And? What if I did?" He stalked up close to her, so their faces were only inches apart. Tenko didn't react nearly as quickly as she would've, but stepped back and took a defensive stance when she realized that he was in her personal space. He held eye contact with her, purple irises staring deep into her soul. "What would you do about it? _Kill_ me?"

"Y-Yes, I would!"

Ouma threw his head back and laughed, "Well, I'd like to see you try!"

Kiibo watched in awe as the short boy went on and on, laughing his lungs out as if it were the funniest thing he had ever said. If Angie's corpse had shocked him before, then Ouma's insanity was sure to bring it back with double the force. He stared at him, concern written over his face. What was _wrong_ with him?

Monokuma suddenly spoke, "Hey, over here, you dimwits! I have a gift for you!" He threw several files at them, some of them landing in their hands and on the ground. Even though none of them were in the mood to, they couldn't help but wonder what they were for. He waited until they had all arrived before launching into an explanation.

When the bear had finally disappeared, some of them were still understandably confused. Try as they might, they just didn't know why this had happened. As some of them were going over the Monokuma file, Kiibo had followed the blood trail that was coming from Angie's shoulder.

"Um, everyone? I found the arm..." He could see it peeking from the darkness of the seats.

"Where?" Harukawa went up beside him, crouching down. "I can't see it. Could you pull it out?"

Kiibo gulped, not wanting to touch it. But as all the students looked on expectantly, he sighed and gave in, reaching under for it. He grabbed it by the finger, slowly dragging it out as to not ruin any potential evidence. A bloody, severed arm was what they expected, but it didn't lessen the impact of actually seeing it.

"This is horrible..." The robot whispered. People around him murmured in agreement.

Toujou shook her head in disapproval, "They didn't do a very good job of hiding the arm."

"Eh, I think they did fine!" Ouma said from where he was seated in one of the theatre chairs.

Saihara casted him a sideways glance, "...Can you be quiet for now, Ouma-kun?"

"Of course, only for you Saihara-chan." Kiibo didn't let the wink he gave him go by unnoticed. Up until now, he had only taken on a favorable attitude towards Saihara. He wondered if it had something to do with his behavior. He would've thought about it some more, but Angie was the first thing on his mind. He stored the memory away in hopes of touching on it again.

He stood back up, opening the Monokuma file with a heavy weight on his shoulders.


	4. First Trial

Poking and prodding at the crime scene wasn't yielding any results, Kiibo concluded as he sighed. They had spent a considerable amount of time investigating the scene, most shaking off the feeling of disgust and fear.

Surprisingly, some of them weren't too bothered with handling a dead body. Whether it be because of their talents, or if they were just used to it he didn't know. It caused him to wonder if a robot like him being squeamish over death was unnecessary.

What was he talking about? Of course he would be bothered! One of his friends was _killed._ The people who weren't were just strange. Otherwise, he had no idea why they were so calm in a situation like this. For someone who claimed to love humans, Shinguuji was acting rather impersonal about the matter. And for someone who claimed to often deal with kids, Harukawa seemed unfeeling towards Angie's death. Then again, these were the ones who he had the most trouble figuring out the causes for their actions. Some of his classmates were really mysterious.

His thoughts travelled to Ouma, who was still reading his file. Speaking of mysteries, what happened to him? He had thought that the supreme leader was a prankster who loved to tease people, annoying but harmless for the most part. But recent events had him in for a loop. Technically, what he pulled was a trick, but it was an elaborate trick that went way over the line. He would've thought that he did it for attention, but his regular attitude was already attention grabbing enough.

Still, there must be a cause for everything, Kiibo reasoned. Ouma probably had his own purpose for doing what he did, even if it might've been stupid beyond sense. And using that logic, there was a reason someone had to kill Angie and tear off her arm... even if he didn't understand why, he believed it was true. All they would have to do is figure it out.

They searched the body, looked for any potential murder weapons, and questioned any witnesses and suspects. Naturally, most of them gravitated towards Ouma, despite being wary of him. The first one to try and get information out of him was Akamatsu, but she just couldn't shake off the very likely possibility that he wasn't being entirely truthful. Ouma had warned of being a liar, after all.

"Sorry Akamatsu-chan," He (rather unconvincingly) apologized, head resting in his arm. With one leg over the other and being seated in his theatre chair, he looked like a ruler who was having fun messing around with his subjects.

The girl only frowned and moved on, subtly gesturing for other people to try their luck. Saihara came over with his Monokuma file, "Ouma-kun, was Angie-san dead when you first arrived here?"

He looked ever so slightly more alert, as he shifted his right leg to rest on his left. "Aw, you're asking the same thing Akamatsu-chan did? I would've expected more originality from you."

"Enough, just answer the question." He snapped. The fact that the usually calm Saihara was agitated shone through his words, and Ouma was taken aback by it.

"Woah, you don't have to get rowdy! She was already dead when I came." The shorter boy replied.

Saihara seemed to mentally take note of his answer, before continuing with the questions. He asked about his account, if he was with anyone else, if he had seen anyone else, and most importantly if he had done anything to the body. Ouma took them all in stride, sometimes giving extremely vague responses that only served to annoy the detective even more. The interaction was admittedly painful to look at.

Fortunately(?), the scene was interrupted by a blaring voice on the speakers. They all turned to one of the monitors in the room, where Monokuma had taken up the majority of the screen. He was seated with the same martini glass he had with him every morning and night. "Ahem, so I'm getting tired of waiting. Let's get things started, shall we?"

Tenko paled, "Don't tell me..."

"It's the long awaited... CLASS TRIAL!"

"Damn, already?!" Momota exclaimed, "Hey Monokuma, can't you give us a little more time?" He shouted to the monitor.

The bear seemed to pay no heed to him, "Now, I'll direct you to the meeting point. Please go to the big red doors on the first level of the building! Upupu, I'll see you then!" The screen went black. Even if it was through a monitor, the ominous tone in his words still managed to spook them.

"Well, you heard the bear. Save it for the trial, Saihara-chan!" Ouma jumped from his seat, darting towards the double doors. He opened them with so much force that they bounced off the walls and shut closed again.

Saihara was still for a moment, before he began chasing after him. The rest of the students followed suit, some of them yelling at Ouma for closing the exit. He only ran faster.

Kiibo had let them all pass by until he couldn't hear their receding footsteps anymore. He stared at the doors, which were wide open and let more light into the room. They were most likely making Angie's corpse illuminated, which made him not want to turn around. He lightly sighed.

"I should go. Who knows what Monokuma might do if I don't..." He quietly murmured. He knew the consequences of defying the mechanical bear (his mind flashed back to the colossal machines they had been shown in the main area), but something was stopping him. He thought it to be Ouma, who's behavior was still on his mind, but perhaps it was a more primal thing, the need to survive.

He shook his head, slapping his cheeks a couple times. Even if he wanted to get out safely, the lives of his classmates were much more important. Unlike a robot, a human life was valuable. His selfish desires wouldn't lead them anywhere.

A hand tapped his shoulder. He tensed up, turning around to see who it was.

"What's wrong, Kiibo-kun?" Amami asked, tilting his head.

Kiibo calmed down upon seeing him, releasing the breath he had been holding. He fully expected it to be someone dangerous, but it was just one of his friends. "Oh, Amami-kun... You were still here?"

"I was studying the crime scene again. I still don't quite understand everything, you see." He briefly explained. "Anyway, is there something wrong? You've been standing in front of the door for a while now."

His downcast eyes landed on the floor, "It's nothing, I'm just... feeling a bit nervous."

The taller boy smiled down at him, "Well, don't let it get to you so much. To be honest, I'm also a little hesitant to follow orders."

He solemnly nodded in response, "Yeah..."

Noticing the robot slumping forward, he patted him on the back. "Hey, cheer up! I'm sure it'll be fine. We'll discuss the crime at the trial, the culprit will be pointed out, then-"

"But don't you think it's strange?" Kiibo interrupted. He clenched his fists, turning to face Amami. "We knew that there would be a killing game right from the start, yet nothing happened for an entire week. And when they tried to give us motives to murder, everyone resisted and they did nothing about it!" He was vaguely aware of the panicked shift in tone he had taken, but he just _had_ to tell someone. "The mastermind must be planning something, I'm sure of it!"

There was a short silence. "Is that what you really think?" Amami said, his expression unreadable.

"Yes!" Kiibo valiantly declared.

Suddenly, he felt the other boy push his back towards the entrance. Confused, he turned his head around.

"I think you better get going now. You can't keep everyone waiting, can you?"

"Eh? But, Amami-kun..."

"I'll be right behind you!" And with that, he shut him out of the room.

Kiibo attempted to reopen them, banging on the doors and yelling the other's name a few times, but his efforts were useless. Amami had locked him out. He scratched his head, thinking of any possible reason he would have for doing that. After a few moments of thinking, he could feel the clock ticking away and figured that the best course of action was to continue to the trial and wait for him to finish.

If he remembered correctly, the big red doors were on the other side of the building. He ran down the hallway for good measure, even if he was probably already late. As he got closer to the elevators, the feeling of sick dread and anticipation got stronger. He willed it away, the desire to save his friends keeping him going.

When he got there, a couple people began scolding him upon sight. He could hear some loud groans of relief coming from the back.

"God, we've been waiting like, ten minutes for your metallic ass to get here!" Iruma shouted.

Kiibo whimpered, "S-Sorry..."

Akamatsu approached him, causing him to not hear the shushed whispers of the inventor. "I'll have to upgrade you to make you faster..."

"Kiibo-kun, what took you so long? We were worried!"

He straightened up, "I apologize for making you wait." The concerned gazes of his friends dug into him, and he felt guilty for spending so much time in the theatre. It wasn't his place to hold everyone back when they were currently facing a crisis.

He laid eyes on Ouma, who was at the corner of the room. He looked as uncaring and nonchalant as per usual, but he could see the thoughtful expression that looked as if he were thinking deeply about something. And no matter how observant Kiibo was, he couldn't figure out what he was so focused on.

Forcibly prying his eyes away, he turned back to the entrance. Even if Kiibo had arrived, they still had to wait a few minutes for Amami. Again, moans of exasperation filled the room before finally settling down as the elevator opened for them. They piled in, attempting to gain equal space. Then, the elevator began to move down, plunging them into an inescapable darkness.

The knot in his stomach seemed to rise further up along with his chance at freedom.

\- - -

The trial was off to an abrupt start. Since it was their first one, they had to listen to Monokuma explain the mechanics before beginning their discussion. They planned to talk about the scene, the victim, the circumstances of the murder and everything else they could think of. The first thing that popped up was the way Angie died, and what was used to kill her.

Some of them were led to believe that the bloody mallet found near her body was the weapon, but their theories were quickly shot down as it was too obvious. They listed off possible ways that she could've died, including blood loss and strangulation. Blood loss was a definite possibility, but they later confirmed that her arm had been ripped off after death. Left with no more options, strangulation was inferred from the neck wound stated in her Monokuma file.

After discussing the method and location some more, they went straight into witness accounts and possible suspects. Almost immediately, Ouma's name came up.

"Isn't he the most suspicious?" Harukawa stated, glaring daggers at Ouma. "He was there when Angie-san's body was discovered."

"Ah ah," The short boy wagged his finger in protest, "I wasn't the only one. Kiiboard was there too!"

He jumped when Ouma pointed at him, "I-I only saw her body! I never killed her!" He tried to deflect. After all, it was true.

"Are you sure about that? You could've done the deed with one of your secret robot one hit moves!" He declared, seeming confident of himself.

Again with the robot jokes, Kiibo sighed. But besides that, he was shocked, and quite frankly offended. He couldn't believe Ouma was accusing him of murder, especially when they weren't even halfway through the trial. They had a lot of stuff that needed figuring out first before making a definitive judgment.

"Wait, it's still too early to decide on the culprit yet." Saihara spoke. Kiibo turned to him, grateful for the backup. He had noticed that Saihara and Akamatsu were taking charge of the debate, which was a little surprising considering how soft spoken the detective could be. Perhaps they were both natural born leaders.

"That's right, we still need to see if there are any witnesses." Akamatsu said, looking at Kiibo. "Since you were there when the Monokuma announcement played, how did you know Angie-san was there? Ah, not that I suspect you or anything." She sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

Kiibo smiled at her, "It's okay. Yes, I was there when the announcement was made. Momota-kun was the one who informed me of his discovery."

They looked at Momota, who affirmed his claim. "Yep, I found Kiibo in the library and brought him with me to the theatre." He proceeded to explain why he was in the theatre when asked about it. He had left his spare jacket in there the night before and went to retrieve it. Strangely enough, the jacket was missing at the time of the discovery.

"What were doing in the theatre last night then? Were you coming up with a plan to murder someone?!" Tenko yelled. There were always a couple people who would jump to conclusions easily, and she was one of them.

"No, I was watching a movie with Gokuhara! Right, Gokuhara?" He looked to him for support.

"Gonta can confirm his statement. He invited me to watch a very interesting film about talking animals!"

Akamatsu looked pleasantly surprised, "I didn't know you two were friends!"

"Well there's a lot of things you don't know about me. I offered HaruMaki a chance to come too, but she didn't want to." He pouted, not so secretively glancing at Harukawa. She turned away.

For the rest of the time, they searched for more witness accounts, attempting to connect them to the case. Turns out there was one more. Angie often hanged out with Yumeno and Tenko, who were supportive of her religion and willingly performed rituals with her. She had told them of her plan to do one yesterday, and had been gathering the materials needed in preparation.

"We were supposed to do the ritual today... well, you all saw how that turned out." Yumeno pulled down on her hat.

They deduced that she had been getting ready all day yesterday, as some people had recalled seeing her scurrying around the building. She went from room to room, hauling giant tubs of paint and brushes to her talent space. When asked by her friends, she had said that she didn't want any help and went off by herself.

Saihara had his chin propped in one hand, "So then, she might've been looking in the theatre for resources. What did you say the ritual was for?"

"For all of us to get out safely..." Yumeno answered softly. They went quiet for a moment.

Akamatsu broke the silence, "Then that means we should continue the trial in honor of her wishes. It's not too late to avoid any more tragedies!"

"That's not true, Akamatsu-san." Shinguuji startled them with his sudden interjection, "Even if we win the trial, the culprit will still have to be executed. I would consider that to very much be a tragedy."

"Oh, yeah..." The pianist hanged her head, sighing as she hadn't thought of that before.

Saihara tried to cheer her up, "It's alright, Akamatsu-san. No one here wants to die, but there's not much else we can do. Let's talk about the case some more..."

\- - -

Kiibo couldn't believe his ears. Several tens of minutes later, the trial had come to a close. The culprit had been someone completely unexpected, which is what everyone else thought too as the court room exploded in anger and betrayal.

"Shinguuji, why?!" Momota yelled at the man, who stood with his face unmasked. He didn't say anything, and his eyes seemed unfocused. He had his arms pressed against his chest, hand clasped in what appeared to be meditation. His strange behavior unnerved them.

Outbursts filled the room, yet Shinguuji hadn't responded to a single one. It was only after the voting was over that he was willing to voice his reasons.

"...I despise religion." He stated, as if it were something they should've known.

Being understandably confused, they asked him why. "I am an anthropologist, which has caused some people in the past to question my views on religion. Naturally, I would respond with my honest opinion. My belief is that humanity's true beauty does not shine through something as useless and trivial as worshipping an imaginary god..." He rambled on with his explanation to the point where Monokuma had grown impatient. The bear stomped his foot on the ground, demanding them to hurry it up before he executed everyone. It was an empty threat, but it did cause him to stop.

"That's insane..." Saihara nearly whispered, having nothing else to say. The people around him made similar comments.

Akamatsu then thought of something that they had brushed over in the trial. She asked, "But... Why did you rip off her arm?"

"Ah, that? That wasn't done by me. I must say, seeing blood on the body that wasn't there before was quite shocking." The rest of his words were tuned out by the students, as they were surprised to hear the revelation.

"So it wasn't you who did it?" Shirogane gasped. He nodded in reply.

"Then... who did?" Tenko shook, as if fearful to know the answer.

Just then, Monokuma interrupted them. "AAAHHGH! I'm tired of waiting! You people have been going on and on for TOO long now! Let's hurry up and get started with the execution already!"

"But, we're still talking-" Saihara had no time to finish as Monokuma pulled out a tiny hammer. A red button appeared in front of him as he announced what was about to happen.

"It's... PUNISHMENT TIME!" He slammed it down on the button.

Immediately, Shinguuji was dragged out of the court room and into a contraption high on the ceiling, where he was taken to a different space. A box dropped down in the main area, where most of them had gathered to see what was going on. Three of the panels slid off to reveal a Japanese like set up.

Kiibo watched in horror as one of the men surrounding Shinguuji was holding a sword directly above his torso. He looked away, trying to think about anything else other than the execution that was taking place.

He remembered what they had been discussing before Monokuma's interruption. Angie's torn off limb, which Shinguuji apparently hadn't done. It didn't seem like he would lie after admitting to murder, so who did it? His eyes wandered around the crowd of students, before his gaze settled on Ouma.

He was situated near the back, behind the taller students who were probably blocking his view. The execution chamber was bright, making the red on Ouma's stained white shirt glow. Some of it was brown and cracked, dried uncomfortably against his skin.

But that wasn't the part that stood out the most. Ouma had been quiet for the majority of the trial, not saying much aside from his usual snarky remarks. Even the expression he had on now was, for the most part, neutral. A streak of red was still on his cheek.

He didn't look to be injured anywhere, yet he still somehow had access to large quantities of blood. Kiibo didn't have to think much to figure out where he had gotten it from.

Ouma smirked.


	5. Spying

_What am I doing?_ Kiibo thought as he hid behind the metal pole, Ouma walking just a few meters ahead of him.

It was fast approaching night time, and he was fairly certain everyone was already asleep - yet here he was, tailing after the dark-haired boy like some kind of stalker. He shook his head, _No, that's wrong. I'm not like him. The only reason I'm doing this is because no one else is here to check on Ouma-kun._ He darted back when he saw the other male turn around, pressing up against the wall to try and make himself smaller. It seemed to work as Ouma kept making his way down the hall. Kiibo allowed himself a quiet, celebratory sigh and crept up behind another large pole.

Due to his mind not storing much of anything, he was able to focus on nothing but Ouma's movements alone. Before this, he had been reading in the library from the end of the trial all the way up to when the night time announcement rang. The books were more than enough to make the robot temporarily forget about what had happened, but after the bell shocked him out of it, the memories had come back all at once. It was terrible to think about the horrified looks on his classmate's faces as they experienced death - and the possibility of that happening to him, even if he couldn't feel physical pain - which was why he rushed to placed his books back and head to his room.

But when he noticed the gap between the door to Ouma's room and the wall - nearly closed but not quite there - a feeling of dread churned inside his stomach. He'd paused his trek up the stairs and looked behind his shoulder, seeing Ouma come out of a hallway and disappear in the dark shadows of another.

He knew what repercussions following him could potentially lead to, but he found himself not caring as he thought about all the other consequences of leaving the dark-haired boy alone. Ouma was dangerous - that much was for certain. And if he was wandering the school by himself, at night of all times, then it was obvious that he was up to no good. Scanning the area around him, he figured that everyone else had already retired for the night. No one was there to ensure their safety except Kiibo. Making his decision, he went a bit faster to catch up with the other teen before slowing down when he had gotten close enough.

Making no noise was a difficult task, especially for someone who had metallic limbs running on electricity. Still, he tried his best to muffle the sounds by staying as far away from Ouma as possible, while also keeping him in his line of sight. He couldn't let the other boy escape.

Kiibo took note of their surroundings. The hallway was gradually getting dimmer, and he was forced to make the lights in his eyes shine brighter so he could see. It lead to the main area, but which part was Ouma going to? It could've been anywhere, since the main area lead to so many different places; but he supposed he would have to keep following him and see.

The final curve down the hallway introduced them to a new expanse, where the ceiling abruptly shifted into a higher plane. This caused his footsteps to be more susceptible to echoing, and he had to crawl slower to avoid giving himself away. He ducked behind and watched for anything new from Ouma.

The other boy stopped in front of the entrance to the cafeteria, forcing the doors open and walking inside. Kiibo tilted his head. _What sort of business does he have in there?_ He stopped to think, reviewing the items that were in the dining room. The whole class would get together in there every morning to check up on everyone, so it shouldn't have been too difficult. At the large table was where they all ate and socialized, and the attached kitchen area was for anyone who wanted to cook or prepare food. There wasn't much in the dining room to begin with, but the kitchen? From what he had seen, it was filled with cupboards and counters that stored tools specific to cooking. Plates, spoons, forks, and _knives_ were out in the open for anyone to take.

Kiibo watched the entrance for a little bit longer, before walking right up to it. If Ouma was in the kitchen like he'd predicted, then being caught wouldn't be an issue. His thoughts were confirmed as he stepped into the dark room, the only source of light coming from the kitchen doors.

He went up against the wall beside the kitchen and peered his head inside. A part of the door blocked him from seeing anything, and he retracted to move and get a better view. He went to the opposite side, but found that his view was also covered there. He wanted to growl in frustration; but resorted to grinding his teeth instead. From what little of Ouma he had seen while crossing sides, he knew the other boy was crouched over in front of something, but what was it?

Knowing he'd get caught for sure if he switched sides again, he opted to close his eyes and use his ears instead. He pressed himself against the door once again and tried to hear what was going on. For a while a long silence was all that he heard, but it was broken soon after.

Trying not to startle, he registered what the sudden noise was. _Footsteps... And they're coming this way?_

Realizing what that meant, he jumped back from the door and looked around. The exit was all the way across the room, still open but not enough for Kiibo to silently pass through. If he ran now, Ouma would definitely hear him. He'd know that someone had been spying on him, and even if he never caught on to who it was, the pressure of being found out would weigh down on the robot.

He detected the steps getting nearer, and quickly tried to look for a place to hide. If he couldn't escape, then the next best thing would be to wait until he left. He struggled to find anything though as the dining room didn't contain much. There were only chairs that surrounded the long table, and a few bare furnishings like plants and paintings...

 _Wait... The table!_ He swerved in between the chairs and ducked under the table, trying desperately to be quiet as he did so. Crawling to the middle, he curled into a ball and made himself as small as possible. The surface was wide and long, so there was plenty of space to hide in; and the darkness helped him blend into the surroundings. There was no way Ouma would catch him now.

The supreme leader finally came out of the kitchen. Kiibo kept his hands clamped over his mouth as he patiently waited for Ouma to open the doors and leave.

He stayed there for one minute.

Two minutes.

Five minutes.

After what must've been at least fifteen minutes, Kiibo was wondering what had happened. There hadn't been any sound at all after Ouma had left the kitchen, and he was beginning to think that his ears weren't working properly. _Maybe I just didn't hear him leave..._ Feeling as antsy as he was, he scooted over to the edge and peeked out from the cloth.

There was nothing there except for the usual darkness, but he noticed that the doors hadn't changed at all since he'd came. Suddenly feeling extremely nervous, he moved his head out more to get a better look...

Only to be blocked by someone.

"SURPRISE!" Ouma screamed in his face.

Kiibo yelped, darting away from the disturbance. In his panic he had moved his entire body up in an attempt to escape, temporarily forgetting that he was still under the table. His head roughly made contact with the hard wood, causing him to bounce back down onto the floor. Even if he couldn't feel pain, the impact was enough to significantly disorient him. He clutched his head as laughter resounded around the room.

Ouma was on all fours, the tablecloth draped over him in a messy heap. He was pointing at Kiibo with tears in his eyes, "Ahahaha, what's with that reaction?! It's almost too ridiculous to be true!" He pointed upwards, "Look, you even made a dent in the table!"

The robot followed his finger up, and sure enough, there was a sizable hole where he'd hit his head. Not trying to hide his exasperation anymore, he groaned. "...How long have you been there for?"

"Nishishi, the whole time!" He cheerfully answered, "I was waiting for you to come out so I could scare you. Didn't think that would happen though."

Kiibo looked shocked as he rubbed at his injury. He'd been hiding for fifteen minutes, and not once did he hear the other boy climb on the table. "S-So, you're telling me... you knew?"

"Hmm, knew what? Oh, actually-" Ouma shuffled out from the table. Kiibo heard him reach for something on top, before crawling back under. "-can you warm this up for me? The microwave doesn't work at night time."

He blankly stared at the carton of milk in the other's hands, not able to think about anything else other than the fact that Ouma had known the entire time. When had he given himself away? Was it when the ceilings got higher and his footsteps echoed? Was it when he walked into the cafeteria after him? Or had he known since the beginning...? He looked at Ouma, who was still holding the drink in front of him with an expectant look. It was dark under the table, but the other's eyes were still visible. They appeared to be a bright purple color, in stark contrast to the black surrounding them - and the way they somehow seemed to shine brighter than the robot's was eerie.

Looking at the rest of the boy's face gave way to a wide smile, which was harmless enough, but Kiibo knew better. _How can he look so innocent after what he's done?_ His mind flashed back to Angie's bloody shoulder. Even if Ouma hadn't been the one to kill her; it was fairly obvious that her arm had been ripped off by him. He hadn't told anyone at the trial, which caused Kiibo to believe that he didn't want anyone knowing. He was seriously considering telling everyone tomorrow - but would he have the chance to?

He looked around the dark space one more time, before he came to a realization. He was alone with someone who had mutilated a corpse. No one was around, it was night time, and the whole building was pitch black. Surely, if Ouma had no qualms with blood, then he wouldn't mind destroying a machine either.

Slowly, he backed away from the cloth. Retreating inside the table probably wasn't a good idea - but there wasn't anything else he could do at the moment. Ouma tilted his head as he strained to hear what Kiibo had to say, "If... I-If I warm your milk, will you l-let me go...?"

"AHA! So you DO have a heating function!" Ouma yelled again, startling the poor robot. He grabbed Kiibo's hand and tried to pull him out, "Which button do you press to turn it on? Is it hidden on your body? Or do you flip a switch in your mind? How hot does it go? Can you make fire? Does it come out of your eyes? Maybe it comes out of your head? Or that weird piece of hair that sticks up-"

The rapid questions coupled with the surprisingly weak tugging on his arm was getting bothersome. He shrugged him off and crawled through the tablecloth, pushing aside some chairs on his way. He stood up and automatically turned towards the entrance.

"Hey, you can't leave without helping me!" Ouma came after him, hurriedly moving in front of Kiibo and raising his arms. "Turn on your fire or whatever and make this milk drinkable!"

 _He's being annoying..._ The light-haired boy thought. The suffocating fear of being killed was somewhat gone, but he still felt wary of the other male as he pointed the carton at him. He tentatively reached for it and held it in his hands, "...Why do you need to drink it warm?"

Ouma rolled his eyes, "Warm milk helps people sleep better. But I guess a robot like you wouldn't know that, huh?"

Kiibo winced. He should've been used to his occasional jabs at his non-human status, but the constant reminder still hurt him. He shook off the uncomfortable sadness and looked down at the milk instead. _The sooner I warm this, the sooner he'll leave..._

With that thought, he activated his heating function and channeled all of the warmth to his palms, where they were wrapped around the carton. The heat caused his hands to glow enough to light up the surrounding area. He had never been asked to heat up any food or drinks, so he was uncertain if it would work; but as he felt the cardboard outside of the container getting warmer, he was confident that it would.

After a few more minutes of Kiibo concentrating and Ouma staring at him, fascinated, the blue light died down to nothing and he handed him the warmed milk. "Here..."

Ouma tried to take it, but immediately flinched back. "OW! Hey, you made it too hot!" He screamed, blowing at the red skin on his hand.

"Eh?" Kiibo pulled the carton back to him and wrapped his palms around it again, feeling for the temperature. Sure enough, he had made it to the point where it was nearly boiling. "Oh no, I'm sorry Ouma-kun! I've never heated up any perishable food items before..."

The dark-haired male sighed, "Stupid robot... Here, I'll take it." He reached for the checkered scarf around his neck and untied it, revealing the ripped collar of his white shirt. The cloth was flung out and folded into a more manageable size and thickness, before he covered his hands in it and took the carton. "Still really hot, but it'll do."

Kiibo frowned at the display. He couldn't help but feel bad as the other boy tried his best to keep himself from burning, even if he'd wanted him to leave anyway. However, his interest was piqued when he saw Ouma taking off the scarf. Up until now, he'd never been seen in any different clothes; not even at night time when they would sometimes see other people in their pajamas. The patterned muffler had been around his neck for so long that Kiibo had almost forgotten it wasn't attached to his shirt.

There were tears all over his outfit, but the most apparent one was by his neck hole. It ripped far enough for the skin on his collarbone to catch some air. _Why doesn't he wear less ruined clothes? Monokuma provided us with such, after all..._ It wasn't like he trusted the bear, but there wasn't any way he could do something like poison the clothes. He didn't see why Ouma felt the need to wear his tattered-looking outfit everywhere, presumably even when he was sleeping. Even if they were a very plain set of clothes, they could still use some variety in their wardrobe.

Ouma had been trying his best to manage the hot milk, and didn't notice Kiibo staring at his neck. He could tell from looking at his face, but the dark-haired male was even shockingly paler than he'd thought. The white color of the shirt matched so well with his skin that he looked like a ghost. The blend made him worried for the other's health, so he decided that he should say something about it. "Um, if you don't mind me asking Ouma-kun, why is your skin so pale?"

"Huh?!" Ouma sharply flinched back, nearly dropping the milk in the process. He noticed where Kiibo's gaze was directed, and his look of shock morphed into a smirk. "Ooh, so you're staring at my neck now, huh? I didn't know robots could be so perverted."

"Wh- I am not perverted!" Kiibo defended, "It's just that you never take your scarf off, so I couldn't help but look..."

The other boy rolled his eyes, "Sure, and you don't have a dick. Whatever. I only talked to you 'cause I wanted my milk to be warmed up by a robot instead of a microwave, not to answer your dumb questions. Did you even consider the fact that it might be my natural skin colour?"

Kiibo seemed a bit puzzled at the switch in attitude, but decided not to question it. There were other, more important things that needed to be answered. "I'm sorry Ouma-kun, most humans I see don't have skin that pale. But anyway, I need to talk to you about-"

"Did you not just hear what I said?" Ouma glared sharply at him, "This isn't an interview where you can ask me all the questions you want. I got my warm milk from you, and you followed me here to see what I was doing. We're even now!" And before Kiibo could say anything, the shorter boy began to walk away.

 _But you let Saihara-kun ask you questions before,_ the robot wanted to say, but he didn't have time for that as Ouma was starting to leave. Panicking, he took a deep breath and yelled out the question he had been wanting to save for last. "Why did you fake your death?!"

Time seemed to stop just as Ouma did. When Kiibo had yelled a bit too loud, it echoed around the room; and for a while, that was all they heard. The robot stayed silent, waiting for the other boy to say or do something that would answer his question.

For a split second, it seemed like Ouma would ignore him and walk away. But then he turned around, a freaky, condescending grin on his face, and replied.

"Figure it out yourself."

After that, Kiibo didn't have the heart to call out for him again. His jaw dropped open as he watched Ouma walk away with the milk.

Had that really just happened? He followed Ouma here to make sure he wasn't up to no good, and it turned out he wasn't, but was that any better? He figured that if he didn't find him doing anything bad, then he could at least get a clear answer out of him. Turns out, insults and vague replies was all he was going to get.

Kiibo sighed in frustration. Dealing with Ouma was an absolute pain sometimes. He knew the other boy tried to get under his skin on purpose just to mock and tease him, but Kiibo still found himself drawn to how mysterious he was. Even if Ouma continued to annoy and make fun of him, the robot never stopped wondering about the way he talks, his constant lies, and especially his strange actions. He wanted to know the reason behind them. It was easy to say Ouma was just crazy, but was that really the case?

So he wasn't giving up yet. If he was to heed the answer Ouma had given him, then he _would_ figure it out himself, and he _would_ understand him someday.

Then, maybe Ouma would finally give him the reply he wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first time I posted this chapter, it didn't mark it as updated... I only realized this several days after I uploaded it xD woops  
> Anyways here's an update!


	6. Discovery

The next day, everyone was gathered in the cafeteria for morning breakfast, as per usual. This time though, there were less polite greetings and idle chatter between the students. They opted to stay silent as Akamatsu checked for everyone's attendance.

"Shirogane-san, Harukawa-san, Momota-kun... Where's-" As she was listing off students, she was about to say something else, but remembered last second. "Er, alright, that's everyone." She sat down, looking sheepish.

Without another word, they began digging into the food Toujou had prepared for them. They stiffly stabbed their forks into their plates, shoving it into their mouths, not caring how messy it looked. They mechanically chewed and swallowed, not looking up from their food in fear of making eye contact with someone. The atmosphere was so tense, you could cut with a knife.

Being the only one who couldn't eat, Kiibo was feeling especially awkward. He could do nothing but stare enviously at everyone as they ate. None of them really noticed, seeing as how they were more focused on not saying anything.

Kiibo sighed and tried to look elsewhere. Now that the hellish trial was over, their worries should have disappeared; but if anything, it only created more problems. An air of distrust, for example, upon learning that at least one of them was capable of murder. That person was gone now, but who knew how many more potential murderers were still lingering in their group? Kiibo sighed. He wanted to trust his classmates.

And for the most part, he did. Some would call him naive for placing his trust in people who could turn on them at any second, but it was still good to get along. If he was to place his trust in them, maybe it would also persuade them not to resort to murder.

_This way of thinking does have its flaws though..._

He fixed his gaze on Ouma, who was sitting a few chairs down. He was still reeling from their encounter last night, but the other teen seemed just fine. Actually, he looked almost amused as he was observing his eating classmates. A tiny smirk made its way onto his face, and he pursed his lips. _Oh no, is he about to say something?_

"You know, if Kiiboy could eat, he'd probably be doing it like everyone here right now."

They turned to look at Ouma, some with annoyed expressions, and some who were surprised at how easily he had said that, despite how tense it was. The supreme leader let out his signature laugh, "Nishishi, what? It's true. You guys are so robotic, I could literally flick one of my boogers into your food and you'd still be eating."

Against his better judgment, Kiibo replied to his former comment. "Ouma-kun, if I could eat, I would eat like a person! I've seen how humans normally eat, I would be more than capable of doing it!" Realizing what the other boy had just called him, he trailed off. "Also, please don't call me that..."

"Oh yeah, I've been calling you Kiiboard up until now, haven't I?" He crossed his arms, "Well, I decided to change it. Kiiboy sounds a lot better. Don't you guys agree?"

Momota grumbled, "I don't care what you call him, but can it wait 'till later? Some of us are trying to eat here."

"Can't believe I'm agreeing with him, but yeah! Shut the hell up, ya fuckin' grape!" Iruma piped up, "And besides, I'd love to eat like a robot if it means understandin' Kiibo better..." She turned towards Kiibo with a rather lewd expression. He smiled nervously at her.

"If I'm a grape, then you're a robot fucker..." Ouma muttered under his breath. It was still loud enough for everyone to hear though.

Iruma looked baffled, "E-Excuse me?!"

" _Enough!_ I don't want any fighting or arguing happening right now!" Akamatsu yelled out. She had her fingers pressed to her temple, rubbing it in, perhaps, an attempt to calm down. "Especially after yesterday..." Her expression turned somber.

Saihara nodded, "I agree with Akamatsu-san. The last thing we need right now is to argue and listen to insults being thrown around." He glanced at Ouma.

"Ooh, was that a little jab towards me, Saihara-chan? Ouch!" Ouma playfully remarked. The detective merely turned away and ignored him again, causing the shorter boy to frown. "Hey, don't ignore me!~"

As Ouma was trying to get Saihara's attention, Yumeno unexpectedly spoke up, her soft voice also snapping Tenko out of her silent stupor. "It's okay, Akamatsu-san. Even though yesterday was really gruelling for me, I still think it's important we at least talk to each other. I don't like this tense atmosphere..."

"Yeah, that's right." Saihara agreed, "I suppose if there's one thing we can thank Ouma-kun for, it's for breaking the silence."

Ouma sharply turned his head to the left, where Saihara was directing a small, shaky smile towards him. The dark-haired boy didn't seem to notice and gave him a huge grin of his own. He honestly looked like he was about to cry.

Tenko scoffed, "I will _not_ thank a menace for _anything._ But Tenko does agree with Yumeno-san in that we should definitely not keep up this silent charade any longer. Let us keep talking more!"

All of them indicated their agreement with her, and began to engage in some discussions with each other. Things like their interests, their lives before the game, and the building were common subjects that popped up. Some would start complaining about how unfair their situation was, and while they usually would rather not talk about it, it was effective to let off some steam.

Kiibo was watching Ouma talk to Saihara, who had already waltzed over to where the other boy was sitting so he could talk to him. He couldn't hear them from where he was, but it seemed like Saihara was trying his best to make friendly conversation with him, despite his body language giving away his uncomfortableness. Ouma, on the other hand, looked like he was really enjoying talking to him. _It's strange. I never see him that happy or engaged when he's talking to the others. And what was with his reaction when Saihara-kun smiled at him?_

Not wanting to be caught staring, he faced away from them and began talking to some people in an attempt to shake his nervousness off. There were ten more minutes left until the morning meeting ended, and people were just beginning to finish off their plates. Kiibo wouldn't have to wait long to start his investigation. After all, he had sworn to figure out the cause of Ouma's actions yesterday.

After everyone was finished, Toujou got up and began collecting their plates, preparing to wash them. Akamatsu, taking this as a signal, spoke up. "So, everyone's done eating, right?"

Kiibo nodded along with the class, despite having not eaten anything.

"Good. Then this morning meeting is officially over!" She declared with her arm above her head, before letting go and turning to Saihara. She looked proud of herself somehow.

"Do we really need her to 'officially' say that it's over...?" Harukawa asked.

"Well, what can I say? Girl makes a good leader," Momota responded. Harukawa huffed at his presence and took off, "Ah, wait for me Harumaki!"

When Ouma had heard that the meeting was over, he immediately jumped up and rushed out of the room, hastily waving goodbye to Saihara. The detective visibly relaxed at this, releasing some of the tension in his shoulders. Akamatsu laughed beside him and patted him on the back.

Kiibo, seeing this as a prime opportunity, headed for the door after Ouma. He had to find out where the other boy was going in such a hurry anyway, and perhaps it would help him learn more about him. He was about to go out, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

 _What is this feeling of deja vu?_ He thought, his mind flashing back to the moment before the trial. He turned around, and just as he expected; it was Amami.

"Wait, Kiibo-kun! I know this is pretty sudden, but do you have a moment to talk? I want to ask you something." He asked him, a look of slight urgency on his face.

Kiibo looked at him, then back at the door. If he didn't follow Ouma soon, he would lose sight of him. He tried to come up with an excuse. "Sorry Amami-kun, but I have to be somewhere right now! Maybe another time!" He darted off, causing the other boy's hand to fall off his shoulder.

Amami reached for him, but couldn't grab him in time. "Ah!..."

The white-haired boy rushed out, hoping to find Ouma within his sight; but of course, he was no longer there. Sighing, he began heading towards his room, hoping to find him in there just like he had many other times.

He walked up the stairs to the room beside his own. The door to Ouma's room was slightly ajar again, a sure sign that he had gone in there. _I think he should really close his doors properly. Someone might notice, take advantage of it and kill him... Of course, I'm peeping on him right now, so perhaps I'm no better-_ He shook his head, _No, of course not! This is all for the purpose of discovering Ouma-kun's motives so I can keep my classmates out of harm's way, and stop him from doing more bad things. This is necessary for everyone's safety, including Ouma-kun's. I'm not doing anything wrong._

Kiibo felt that he couldn't risk opening the door further, but luckily for him it was just open enough to peak through. There was nothing to hide himself from anyone who might've passed by to see him peaking into Ouma's room, but if he kept his own door open, then maybe he could dart in there before anyone could catch him...

Quickly, he got out his keys and unlocked his own door, keeping it slightly ajar just like Ouma's before positioning himself back in front of the peep hole. He couldn't see the shorter boy just yet - but he did spot a couple of black markers, smudged tissues and what looked to be a whiteboard. Unfortunately, he couldn't see if there was anything written or posted up on the board. It was, for the most part, out of his sight.

When some dark hair came into his vision, he leapt to attention. Ouma was now visible to him. He picked up one of the markers from the ground, unscrewed the cap, and wrote something on the board. Kiibo really wished he could see what he was writing, but the door was obscuring his view. _Maybe I could move it just a bit. These doors don't squeak that much._

Despite not wanting to before, he realized that it was necessary to open the door more if he wanted to know what was going on. Slowly, he gently inched the door just a tad bit forward. When it didn't squeak, he decided to become more daring and open it a little more. To his relief, Ouma hadn't noticed him.

Now that he had a wider view space, he could see just exactly what the whiteboard had on it. Several pictures, all of the students participating in the killing game, were posted up in seemingly random orders. Small notes were written underneath and around the pictures, some with more notes than others. Kiibo had perfect eyesight, but even he couldn't read exactly what they said. He noticed though, that while the order they were placed in seemed random at first, they actually weren't.

The students were divided into what appeared to be sections, with Saihara in the upper right hand corner in a group of his own. He was starting to get the idea that Ouma had a strange fixation on the detective, but what was the reason? The curiosity was nagging at him, and there were quite a few notes on Saihara that were written in bigger words. Maybe if he strained his eyes, he could read them...

He zoomed in on Saihara's picture, and the one word he could make out was - _interesting._

 _Ouma-kun thinks Saihara-kun is interesting...?_ It made sense to him, but at the same time it didn't. He often proclaimed Kiibo himself to be boring when he couldn't fulfill or answer his questions, and from what he had seen he did the same with everyone else. So what other reason would he be so interested in Saihara, other than the fact that he didn't bore him like the other students did?

But there was something he wasn't getting. What had Saihara done to become so 'interesting' in Ouma's eyes? He meant no offence to the detective, but aside from his leadership skills, he didn't seem all that different compared to the rest of them. Maybe he had said or done something to pique Ouma's interest somehow, and it escalated from there. _I have to wonder if this was related to the prank as well._

Kiibo thought that perhaps Ouma had faked his death to get a reaction from the black-clad boy, but if that was the case then he hadn't really succeeded. All it had done was cause Saihara to ignore him. _Although he seemed quite satisfied with that,_ Kiibo bitterly thought as he remembered Ouma smirking at the execution.

After theorizing on the spot some more, he became curious about something else. _Where am I on there...?_ He zoomed in again on the whiteboard, and found his picture beside a cluster of other students. Was it just him, or was he situated a bit further to right?

The words were bigger like they were for Saihara, and once again Kiibo narrowed his eyes to try and read them. _To trust or not to trust?_

...What exactly did he mean by that? _He's questioning whether he should trust me or not, is what it sounds like. It's under my name, so I know he's referring to me. But what reason would he have not to trust me? Have I done something to warrant that?_ Ouma had found out about Kiibo following him yesterday, so maybe it was because of that.

He really should've been more upset at finding out Ouma didn't trust him, but surprisingly he wasn't. It would've been hypocritical of him to be angry for something like that (he wasn't sure he trusted him either). Still, he would've liked it if Ouma wasn't so doubtful of him. The robot had nothing but good intentions.

The sound of approaching footsteps jolted him out of his thoughts. Quickly, he stepped away from Ouma's door and swiftly went inside his own room, closing and locking the door behind him. _Phew, that was close. Don't wanna get caught doing that!_

He walked over to his bed and sat down, disappointed at how short his little peeping session had been. He hadn't gotten to see much, only a couple of words pertaining to him and Saihara. Who would've known Ouma was keeping a whiteboard filled with information on all their classmates?

He wanted to discover more and read about the other students. He wanted to know why Ouma was jotting down notes on everyone, and why he felt it necessary to dedicate so much time to it, to the point where he would run out on Saihara while they were talking. But he couldn't do that without somehow breaking into his room and looking at it, since Ouma was clearly not going to show Kiibo himself...

 _I'd like to avoid doing that if possible, though. There's gotta be another way._ He laid down on the bed, and began to think.

\- - -

Outside, Amami was still looking around for Kiibo after letting him escape from his grasp. Having lost sight of him, he looked around at the places he thought he could find him, like the library or the repair room. When he thought to just check his dorm, he came around to an interesting sight.

Kiibo was huddled up against Ouma's doorframe, peeking into the room with a look of thoughtfulness on his face. Amami figured he might've been a bit too loud with his footsteps, because the robot had immediately darted his head back from Ouma's room and went into his own. It seemed like he didn't want anyone to see him. _A bit late for that._

He had to admit, it was peculiar. Why was Kiibo spying on Ouma? Was he watching him change? Or maybe there was something in there that was potentially incriminating. Amami was growing curious. Maybe he could take a peek...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this on a plane 20 hr flight. so sorry if it's kinda not good lol
> 
> also, I never realized Ouma calls him Kiiboy and not Kiiboard, so I changed it. And I've also realized that the monocubs are missing, but honestly I don't know much about those colourful monokuma clones so I'm leaving them out.
> 
> My justification: it's an AU so watevs


	7. Secret Room

"Amami-chan?"

The green-haired male stopped when he got to the top of the stairs. He'd come this way and was heading towards Ouma's room to peek in on him, but the other boy had opened the door before he could. The two stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, before Amami smiled and greeted him with a small wave. "Oh, hey Ouma-kun."

At first, Ouma's eyes narrowed suspciously at him. Amami began nervously sweating, _Should I retreat for now?_ he thought, taking a step back. It seemed like the supreme leader had only seen him facing in the direction of his room, and not actually walking to it; but he wasn't taking any chances.

Just when he was about to bolt for it though, Ouma beamed and ran up to him. "Hi Amami-chan, what are you doing here? Your room isn't on this side," He remarked, innocently tilting his head.

Amami flinched back a bit, before regaining his senses to try and think of an excuse. He could tell him what he originally came here for... "I was looking for Kiibo-kun, and I figured he might be here." He replied, trying his hardest not to look to the left; lest he give away his half-truth.

"Ooh, Kiiboy, huh?" Ouma reached up to pat him on the shoulder, "Then don't worry, 'cause you came to the right place! He's in his room right now, probably not doing anything since robots never have anything to do." He shook his head and gave a sigh of disapproval, as if he knew what machines did in their spare time.

He blinked, "Oh, really? Then I guess that makes things easier." He turned his back to him, and headed for Kiibo's door. He was only a couple of steps away from ringing the doorbell, before Ouma darted forward and rang it in his stead. Amami watched quizzically as Ouma began pressing down on the doorbell repeatedly, the sounds meshing together to create a horrible alarm-esque noise.

Kiibo jolted up from his bed in surprise, putting his thoughts to an abrupt stop. He had been thinking about what he'd just seen when his doorbell began ringing several times, shocking the poor robot from his deep concentration. He rubbed his head, _Hopefully I'll be able to sort them out after this..._

Wanting the annoying sounds to stop, he rushed over to the door and slammed it open to let the person know he was here and they didn't have to ring so much. Upon seeing who it was though, his ticked off expression changed into that of shock and slight fear. "O-Ouma-kun?"

Ouma smiled cheekily at him, "Hey, Kiiboy!"

Many thoughts were going through his head, but the main one was why Ouma was in front of his door. Was he bored? Did he need something? Or had he actually seen Kiibo peeping on him after all? He was frozen with panic, and instead of replying he stood there and let Ouma stare at him. _What should I say? Should I play it cool and pretend like I don't know anything? Or would that just give me away? I don't even know if he saw me or not-_

Amami suddenly interjected, "Kiibo-kun!"

He snapped back to reality, "H-huh?"

The taller boy lightly shoved Ouma back so he was out of the centre of the doorframe, causing the other teen to let out an obnoxious squeal. Amami rolled his eyes and turned to Kiibo, "Sorry about that. I came here looking for you since I didn't see you anywhere else, but Ouma-kun saw me and got here first..." He glanced at the culprit in question, who was on the floor pretending to be severely wounded by Amami's push.

The robot sighed in relief, "I-I see." So Ouma hadn't really been the one to visit him. _I guess that also means he didn't catch me spying on him earlier..._ "Um, so what did you need me for?"

Amami cleared his throat, "Well, we can't do it here, but I just wanted to ask you some questions." He paused and did a check around himself, "I know you were busy before, but you're free now right?"

He put a finger to his chin, giving it some thought. He did remember Amami trying to get his attention after the morning meeting, coincidentally right when he was about to go after Ouma. He'd felt bad about blowing him off like that, and it was true that he didn't have anything to do anymore (except thinking of ways to read Ouma's whiteboard again, but it could wait), so he shrugged and accepted. "I'm not busy anymore, yes."

"Great!" Amami exclaimed, "Then can you come with me?"

"Of course, just give me a second." He went back into his room to retrieve his keys, closed the door, and then locked it. "Alright, I'm ready now."

They started walking towards the stairs together, before Kiibo felt something tug at his leg. He looked down to see Ouma with his face still on the floor, and the boy loudly groaning. "Waaait..."

Kiibo jumped, and then sighed when he realised who it was. "What now, Ouma-kun?"

He sprung up from the floor, "Let me come with you!"

The robot looked over to Amami, who merely shook his head in response. "Sorry, but you can't."

Ouma pouted, "Oh? And why not?" He stood in front of Amami to block his path, and glared at him. "Is it something you don't want anyone knowing about? Are you planning to take Kiiboy away and _kill_ him? I bet you are aren't you!" He pointed accusingly at the taller boy, before dropping his hand to his side. "Well, it's not possible to kill robots since they were technically never alive to begin with, but I don't doubt that the bear will count it as murder. So, Amami-chan, how about it?!" He pointed at him again.

Kiibo opened his mouth to try and protest, but was stopped when Amami put his arm in front of him. With a determined stance, he glared back at Ouma. "Ouma-kun, I heard you say before that robots never have anything to do."

Ouma put his arms behind his head, "Yeah, and?"

"Well, what about you? Aren't you asking us to tag along because _you_ also have nothing to do?"

The dark-haired boy looked taken aback for a second, but quickly brushed it off. "Well, jokes on you, what I said before was a lie! Nishishi, I can't believe you fell for it."

Kiibo placed a hand on the arm that was still in front of him, "I don't mean to agree with him, but he's right! I do have things to do, and to say that I don't is robot discrimination!" He said, looking directly at Ouma in an attempt to send the message to him.

Amami lowered his arm and glanced exasperatedly at both boys, before sighing and walking forward. "I swear it's nothing suspicious, but if you really want to come then it's not like I can stop you."

Ouma looked surprised, "Wait, you're letting me come with you?"

He shrugged, "If it'll ease your worries, sure."

Ouma didn't waste any time in running up to his side. He stood so close that it almost looked like he would hook arms with him, "Heehee, and now you can't do anything with the both of us here. Nice choice Amami-chan."

Kiibo frowned at him from Amami's other side, unconsciously focusing on how close they were. _Why did he decide to come with us? And Amami-kun just gave up on trying to stop him!_ He was pretty miffed, having rather Ouma stayed behind, but not enough to voice his complaints.

He _was,_ however, confused at how attached he was acting towards Amami. _I thought he only acted that way with Saihara-kun, but Amami-kun too?_ He probably missed something when he had looked at the board earlier. He'd swore he had seen something that looked like a boy with green hair at the bottom, but he hadn't seen anything written there. Perhaps Ouma thought he was 'interesting' as well.

 _Or he just acts this way towards everyone except for me._ Kiibo thought. Ouma treated everyone with an air of secrecy around him, but he only ever picked on and insulted Kiibo, while still keeping the mysterious aura. _Maybe he just hates me..._ He couldn't say the thought surprised him, but it made him sad to think that anyone in his class disliked him so much. _What did I even do? I've tolerated him so much yet he still seems to not care for me. What do I have to do to make him realize that I'm not a bad person?_

He bore his gaze into Ouma, as if he could find all his answers by simply looking really hard at him. The dark-haired boy somehow sensed him looking, because he suddenly turned over to face him, smirking and waving mockingly at him. Kiibo's eyes widened at being caught, and he quickly looked up at Amami so he wouldn't have to make eye contact with him anymore. "U-Uh, If you don't mind me asking, where are you taking us?!" He stuttered, hoping to deter Ouma of saying anything about his staring.

"We're going to a place I just recently found out about," Amami replied, "I can't tell you exactly where it is because, you know-" He pointed to some security cameras on the walls, "-but you'll know soon. Also, like I said before, it's nothing suspicious."

Ouma closed his mouth, about to accuse Amami again of something else. Instead, he pouted and crossed his arms.

The trio took a turn to the left out of the dorms, and into a familiar hallway that Kiibo recognized as having gone down many times before. _I often take this route to the library. We're probably not going there though, seeing as how this path leads to plenty of other areas..._

But to his surprise, they stopped walking when Amami stood in front of the library entrance. He opened the door for them, "It's in here."

They both went in ahead, Amami going in last and closing the door behind them. Kiibo immediately began trying to look for the secret place Amami had been talking about, scanning the floor and ceiling, checking the walls and even looking between bookcases. He'd been here so many times, yet it looked unfamiliar when he knew that there was something in here he hadn't seen.

 _I can't believe I've never noticed. I'm not seeing anything though..._ He turned to the other two boys, where they stood in front of a large bookcase. Thinking that it would be there, he went over.

"Oh, Kiiboy, done your little search yet? Amami-chan's about to show it to us, if you would just wait." Ouma commented right when he saw Kiibo heading towards them.

Usually, the robot would have said something to deflect the insult, but his attention was shifted off of him when he spotted Amami trying to pry the bookshelf open. He had his hands gripped on the side behind the shelf, and with a little strength he moved it so it opened like a door. _There were hinges on here?_ Kiibo looked behind the other side. Apparently there was, but they were very small.

"It's pretty hard to open sometimes... But maybe I'm just weak, haha." Amami sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "Anyway, this is what I was talking about."

They all saw what the bookshelf had been concealing. It was a large, black-and-white coloured door that seemed to be made out of strong metal. Beside it, there was a small card swiping machine with a blank screen and two buttons underneath - one blue, and one red. The door was also knob-less, so there was no immediate way of opening it.

"Amami-kun, is this...?" Kiibo asked, shocked at the discovery. Had this been hiding under their noses this entire time?

"Yep, it's the entrance to a secret room. At least, that's what I think it is."

"You _think?_ " Ouma leaned in.

"I haven't actually been inside yet," Amami admitted, "The only way of opening it is to slide some sort of card here, but I don't know where to get anything like that. I've already tried searching the place, and all I've found are these playing cards. I brought them with me just in case, but I'm pretty sure they won't work..." He said, taking out a deck from his pocket.

"Well, it can't hurt to try, right? C'mon, let me see those." Ouma said, reaching for the cards.

"Wait Ouma-kun, I don't think those will-" Kiibo called out, but Ouma had already gotten a hold of the deck. He pulled a card out and held it in the slot, sliding it down until a _beep_ sound was heard. The dark-haired boy was blocking the card scanner, so Kiibo couldn't see if it had worked or not. He wrung his hands in anticipation.

"Hmm... Nope, doesn't work!" He exclaimed, removing the card and putting it back with the rest of the deck. He tossed Kiibo the pack, "You're free to test out the other cards though!"

"That would be a waste of time," Kiibo responded, rolling his eyes and handing them back to Amami.

The taller male sighed and pocketed the cards, "See what I mean? Nothing will open the door." He turned towards the robot, "The reason I wanted to bring you here was so I could ask you about it."

He tilted his head, "Me? Why me?"

"Well, I figured with you having an A.I. and all, you could find some way to hack into the machine and unlock it."

Kiibo glanced at the card scanner. He might've been able to tweak his way into things, given the right equipment; but he suspected Amami was implying something else with the suggestion. _Is he asking me to hack into it using my mind?_ If his brain was connected to the scanner, then maybe he could do it - but the problem was, he didn't know how, and he was pretty sure the other two didn't know either. If only they had someone who was proficient with machines...

Suddenly, it struck him. _Wait, we have a Super High School Level Inventor! I can ask her!_

"U-Um, I won't be able to do it on my own, but Iruma-san might be able to! Can I go and get her?" Kiibo asked, already facing the doorway.

"Sure. I was planning on showing this to everyone else anyway," Amami replied, shrugging his shoulders.

The robot smiled gratefully, and began heading towards the exit. He wrapped his fingers around the handle and pulled open the door, about to head outside; but was stopped by something he saw.

Akamatsu and Saihara stood just outside of the library. Akamatsu had her arm outstretched, as if she had been about to open the door before Kiibo interrupted her. They looked at each other, surprise written on their faces, before the girl stepped back. "Kiibo-kun, you were in the library?"

He nodded, hand still firmly gripped on the handle. "Yes..."

She glanced at Saihara as they both exchanged questioning looks. He could tell they were trying their hardest to be discreet, although Kiibo could still see everything. _What are they doing?_

They stopped their silent communication just as quickly as they started, and Saihara walked forward. "Mind if we ask what you're doing in there?"

Kiibo tilted his head at the strange question. Couldn't they just walk in and find out for themselves? It wasn't like they were doing anything suspicous... Regardless, since Amami had given him permission to tell Iruma, he figured he could tell them too. "I'm with Ouma-kun and Amami-kun, we're... well... we found something."

Akamatsu looked as if she had a moment of comprehension. Her suspicion faded away as she moved closer to the entrance, "Is it a hidden room?" She whispered.

His eyes widened. _How did she know that?_ "Yes."

"And you're trying to get in, right?" She correctly guessed, "Well don't worry, you don't have to anymore, because we have the card key."

"I-I see." Getting the hint, Kiibo opened the door further and let them in. The other two boys were already facing the doorway, having heard their entire conversation. Amami looked slightly surprised at the unexpected guests, but it didn't seem like he minded too much.

"Saihara-chan, you came too?!" Ouma exclaimed. He spared nary a glance Akamatsu's way, "And you brought along your sidekick."

"Sidekick?" The blonde offendedly repeated. She wasn't going to get riled up, but to be referred to that way right when she entered the room...

"Please Ouma-kun, if anyone's the sidekick here, it's me." Saihara replied, coming to his friend's defense. "Akamatsu-san has been helping and leading me towards everything, she's the one who's been doing all the work. She even found the card to the door behind the bookshelf..."

"Wait, you guys have the card?" Amami piped up, his attention and curiosity of how they'd gotten a hold of it immediately piqued.

"Ah, yes, I have it right here." Akamatsu reached behind and pulled it out of her pocket, holding it up for everyone to see. She temporarily put it back again, "We found it _together,_ right Saihara-kun?"

The detective looked up from his hat at her. He was hesitant at first; but after catching a glimpse of the girl smiling at him, he raised his head and nodded, the corners of his lips turning up a little. "...You're right."

Akamatsu encouraged him, pumping both her fists. "Mhm. You're not my sidekick and I'm not your's, because we're a team. Both of us are the leaders!" She lowered her arms and reached out for his hands. She could feel him flinch, but after gently wrapping her fingers around his, he visibly relaxed. "So don't say those sort of things. You've helped me just as much as I've helped you."

Saihara blushed, nodding again as he didn't know what to say. "Thank you, Akamatsu-san." He watched her give him another smile, solidifying what they had just told each other, before letting go and turning towards everyone else. "It's just as she says, we do have the card. You've probably noticed by now, but since the door has no handle, the only way to get in is through the card scanner..." He trailed off, his line of vision drifting to the right. Because he had been preoccupied with Akamatsu, he hadn't noticed Ouma standing beside him the entire time. He looked down at the shorter boy, "Ouma-kun?"

He stared up at him, not moving or breaking eye contact. It was a bit unsettling, but just as Saihara was about to say something, Ouma turned and walked over to Akamatsu. "Hey Akamatsu-chan, can you give me the card?"

She already had the card out and was showing it to Amami, when Ouma's voice caught her attention. "Huh? Well, sure-"

He didn't even wait for her to hand it to him, yanking it from her and running up to the card scanner. He quickly slid it down and waited for the _beep_ noise. He wasn't disappointed, hearing the sound soon after and seeing the blue button underneath the screen lighting up. Everyone stepped back as the black and white door began opening outwards, a cloud of dust floating up that prevented them from seeing what was inside.

A couple of them started coughing as they tried to wave the dust away. As he joined them, Kiibo's mind was going through reasons of why there was so much dust. It might've been really old or just not properly maintained, but Akamatsu and Saihara had already supposedly went in just before them. The dirt should've been significantly cleared after their entry. _Maybe I'll ask about it later._ After they cleared the path, they opened their eyes to discover what was really in the hidden room.

For the most part, it looked similar to the library, albeit smaller. There were still shelves lining the walls, filled to the brim with old, faded looking books. There was another globe in the center, and a section in the back that was seperated from the rest of the room with a barred wall. There was a clock on the left side, and a monitor for announcements right beside it. One thing that they also all noticed, was that the room had no cameras.

Ouma gave Akamatsu the card back, "I just wanted to slide it in, nishishi." He said, giving her a grin that she couldn't help but be skeptical of.

She wiped the card off and swiftly placed it back in her pocket, turning towards the other two bewildered boys. "So, this is the hidden room! We've already been in here, and it's not really that different from the main room."

"There are some books here, although you can't take them out because they'll fall apart right away." Saihara remarked, demonstrating by trying to take one out. It slipped from his grasp and fell to the floor, crumbling on impact. He stepped back, instantly regretting having done that.

"This room must be very old then, right?" Kiibo asked. He hadn't gotten the impression that the building was that old, but judging from how poorly kept the books were here, then maybe it was built further back than he'd previously thought.

"It looks like it, but I don't know for sure." He responded.

"So what's the section here at the back for?" Amami piped up, walking past the globe and to the bars. "It looks like it's blocking off another door there."

" _Another_ door? You're telling me there's a secret room within a secret room?!" Ouma ran to the section with Amami and stuck his arm through the bars, trying futilely to reach for the door. He pulled back his sleeve when he realized it was in the way, revealing his pale, bony arm. He tried one more time, but it proved to be useless as it was too far away. Ouma withdrew his arm, "I guess I'm too fat. Hey Saihara-chan, you try! I bet you're skinny enough to get through these bars."

"If you can't get through it then I can't either..." He retorted as the rest of the intruders joined them.

"The entrance to the cell is over here," Akamatsu pointed over to a part of the wall that looked pretty much the same as the rest; except the bars were closer together, and it had a keyhole.

"Since you guys found the card from who-knows-where, you probably have the key to open this too, don't you?" Ouma turned to her.

Akamatsu sighed, "Well sadly, no. We couldn't find it no matter where we looked, and trust me, we checked the place where we found the card several times."

"Speaking of which, where did you find the card?" Amami thought to ask.

"In the garden," The blonde affirmed, "It was in the warehouse, sitting on the shelves where all the watering pots were... I honestly have no idea why it was there, since we basically found it by chance. Maybe the mastermind left it there on accident."

So, there's no doubt that this place was created by the mastermind, huh..." Amami replied. He paused, seemingly contemplating something before speaking again. "If you guys don't mind, could I try and help find the key? Although the scanner is a different colour, the door over there could potentially be opened using the same card."

Akamatsu agreed, "Of course you can! The more people helping us, the better. We can't do anything until we get past this cell, after all."

"Oh come on, do we really have to find the key? Just get Kiiboy to open it." The supreme leader turned to Kiibo, another accusation of hidden powers inevitably about to be thrown his way. "He can wrench the bars out wide enough for all of us to get in. I've seen him do it before!"

"Please don't lie about that, Ouma-kun. If I could do such a thing, I would've been able to open the door from outside!" Kiibo shot back, sighing as he realized what he was doing. He let the false remark roll off his shoulders as he looked around some more.

The wall behind the cell was interesting and all, but not as much as the rest of the place. The shelves with books in them looked the same as the ones in the library, except they were caked in dust. The books here were probably much older then, but since they were in a secret room, perhaps some of them contained important information. He went up to a shelf and dusted off the spines, looking for any books that seemed even a little stable. He stumbled across a slightly newer looking one, and reached to try and take it out.

"Wait, Kiibo-kun, those-!" Saihara called out.

"It's okay, I'll be careful." Kiibo said back. He slowly eased the book out of its place in the shelf, and when it looked like it wasn't going to fall apart, he grabbed it more firmly. With both hands, one on the top and bottom, he gently carried the book down from the shelf unharmed. He turned around triumphantly, "I took one out!"

The detective stopped tensing, "Oh wow, you did. What does it say?" He asked, walking over to take a look.

Kiibo brushed off the front and read the title out loud, "The Recent Effects of Climate Change." He lightly flipped it over to check what date it was from, "1980... That's quite old. It probably won't contain much that relates to current times." He went back up to place it back where it belonged, disappointed from the lack of useful information.

"There might be more books that are in better shape like that one though, so we should keep searching." Saihara suggested, "When I was last in here, I had only tried to take out one book and it broke on me, so I never tried again. But this proves that there might actually be something in here we can use."

"Then we should spend a bit more time in here and walk around, see if there's anything that looks even remotely interesting." Amami brought up.

"Ugh, I don't want to..." Ouma whined.

"You're free to leave if you want, Ouma-kun." Saihara said.

He gave him an incredulous stare, "That was a lie, of course I'm not leaving! This place is interesting, plus I don't want any of you planning something behind my back." He hopped away from the cell and over to the bookcases, "I'll look at some of these too!"

For the rest of the time, they leafed through the books that could keep themselves together and searched the general area. There wasn't much to be found in there, with most of the books having outdated info or being old, albeit entertaining novels. Kiibo deduced that the mastermind must've spent enough time in here to bring them in.

At least two hours passed before Ouma had gotten bored and suggested that they leave, all of them agreeing as they put back whatever items they had and began shuffling towards the exit. The robot was surprised how during the entire time, no one had entered library at all. _We were quite lucky... I don't know what we would've done if the mastermind had caught us._ There weren't any cameras in the main library either, but he wasn't actually sure if the mastermind knew about their little invasion of the secret room. Judging by the lack of Monokuma though, he could safely assume they hadn't.

Akamatsu took out the card again, closing the black and white door on their way out. Then Amami, with the help of Saihara and Kiibo, pushed the bookshelf so it was covering it again. They all stood in front of it, thinking about what to do next.

"I think I'll go look for the key now. It might be somewhere in the garden since the card was also there, but if it's not then I'll look around some other places." Amami stated.

"Oh, I'll help you! It'll be easier with two people there. You any of you want to come?" Akamatsu asked.

Saihara shook his head, "Sorry, but I'll pass. There's something I have to do later."

"I see... How about you two?" She hopefully turned to them.

"I'm too tired," Ouma bluntly answered, arms behind his head.

"Ah... There's something I should be doing right about now too." Kiibo said, thinking back to what he had been doing before Amami rang his doorbell.

Akamatsu pouted, but quickly regained her spirit. "Well, no worries. We'll do just fine, right Amami-kun?"

He nodded, "Yes, we will. We should get going now though, before the key disappears or something."

"Yeah. We'll see you guys later!" Akamatsu waved to them as she exited the library with Amami, leaving the three boys in there by themselves.

There was a beat of silence, before Ouma spoke up. "Hey Saihara-chan, where are you going now?"

He quizzically replied, "I just have to go help Momota-kun with something, why?"

"Oh nothing, I was just hoping that I could maybe... come with you?" Ouma pleaded, giving him his best puppy-dog face.

Saihara didn't seem to be affected, thinking about how it could work out. The effects from yesterday's trial hadn't really worn off yet, and truthfully he still felt a bit wary of Ouma, so he wasn't sure Momota would take too kindly to Saihara bringing him along. Still, it could be a chance to get along better and clear the bad air. He knew how upset his friend had been over the prank though, so it could also go very badly, but he wouldn't know unless he tried, right?

"I guess you can come..."

"YAY! Let's go then!" Ouma yelled, grabbing Saihara's arm and taking him towards the exit.

He tried to resist being dragged by him, but the shorter boy was surprisingly strong. He looked back at Kiibo right before leaving. He was standing in front of a bookcase, looking pensive about something, and when he sensed Saihara looking at him he turned and waved, as if to say 'have a good time'. _Is he staying behind because he wants to read?_ Saihara thought, looking puzzled. He would have pondered it more, but was unable to resist Ouma's grasp on him as he was forcibly pulled out of the library.

After listening to the boys and making sure they were gone, Kiibo peeked out of the library door and down the hallway at them. Saihara had patted Ouma's arm to stop him from dragging him along, and now they both walked alongside each other at a briskly pace. Kiibo tried to resist the urge to follow them, but the feeling was overwhelming.

 _I should've asked to come with them... But then it might not play out the same way with me there._ He sighed. Looks like his day wasn't over yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longest chapter ever! And actually, it might be the longest thing I've ever written to date. It's a shame that I think it's bad. ; u ; I just didn't really know when the end the chapter, and it kept going and going until it reached 5,400 words...
> 
> Its kinda funny cause at first the chapters were 1,000 words, then 3,000, now 5,000! I don't think they'll get any longer than this though.
> 
> Also, I know that they don't actually go into the secret room in the first chapter, at least I think so. There's a lot of inconsistencies in the story that will be very apparent once the official english release is out. I'll still keep writing the story, but just keep that in mind, and pls forgive me.


End file.
